Colonial River Investments LLC Invests $409,000 in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Colonial River Investments LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,167 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 78.6% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,642 shares of the airline's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,670 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at $406,102.49. This trade represents a 32.74% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David P. Hess bought 7,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 23,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $614,097.12. The trade was a 47.90% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV stock opened at $32.23 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.06. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.37 billion, a PE ratio of 37.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.23.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 1.98%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.36) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Melius Research raised Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.88.

Southwest Airlines Profile

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.

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